Kinyanjui Wins Second Straight C-USA CrownWomen Place Second; Men Finish Eighth at League Meet

Oct. 30, 2004

Chicago -
The TCU women's cross country team, behind the performance of individual champion Mary Kinyanjui, earned runner up honors at the Conference USA Cross Country Championships, held at the Palos Hills Forest Preserve in Palos Hills, Illinois on Saturday. The TCU men's team placed eighth among the 12 schools competing for the league title.

Kinyanjui, a senior from Kiambu, Kenya who was named to the C-USA All-Decade team earlier in the week, completed the 6K distance in 21:16, eight seconds ahead of Marquette's Jodi Jakubek. She joins Tulane's Hanne Lyngstad as the only two-time individual winners in conference history. Kinyanjui won the race last year in 20:45.40. The TCU women finished with 93 points, 27 points behind Marquette, who tallied 66 points to win the league title for the fifth straight year and for the seventh time in the 10-year history of the league. UAB was third with 101 points.

"We are super excited for Mary," said TCU cross country coach Patrick Cunniff. "She really ran a smart race and finished very strong. She pulled away over the last three-quarters of a mile to win the race easily. She is in great shape," noted Cunniff. "That bodes well for her chances at the regional meet in two weeks."

Sophomore Calandra Stewart placed eighth overall with a time of 22:04 to earn second team all-conference accolades. Stewart placed 15th a year ago, earning third team all-league recognition. Freshmen Halie Bullin (21st-22:37) and Cassie Hostick (26th-22:59) were TCU's third and fourth finishers, while Katrina Zielinski was the Horned Frogs' fifth place runner, placing 37th overall with a time of 23:36.

"It was a great effort from all the girls," said Cunniff. "Katrina was the key to keeping us in second place ahead of UAB."

On the men's side, Alex Morris was TCU's top finisher, crossing the finish line of the 8K race in 26:48 to finish 40th overall. Houston captured the team title with 73 points while Memphis' Mate Nemeth was the individual champion with a time of 26:48.

"I was very happy with the men's effort," noted Cunniff. "They ran very hard. This is a tough conference. Most of the schools are `distance' schools. It was a very challenging course with lots of hills. We competed as best we could."

The Frogs will take two weeks off before returning to action at the South Central Regional meet, which will be held in Waco, Texas on Saturday, November 13.